Written by

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Inkster’s city manager told police officers in an e-mail Tuesday afternoon that a lieutenant is now in charge of the police department.

But just hours later, manager Richard Marsh Jr. stressed to the Free Press that Chief Hilton Napoleon remains the department’s top dog.

Marsh’s e-mail followed an apparently heated meeting he had with the chief Tuesday. It also underscores some of the ongoing tension in the city surrounding police services.

Marsh told the Free Press Tuesday night that he and Napoleon “had a difference of opinion regarding terms and conditions in our union contract that we’re proposing.” Marsh said Napoleon became upset and left the meeting.

It wasn’t immediately clear at that point whether Napoleon was continuing in his role as police chief, Marsh said. He said he asked the chief’s administrative secretary to e-mail police personnel that Lt. Jeff Smith was in charge of the department until further notice.

“I could not take the risk of not having someone here to command the police department,” Marsh said.

Marsh said Napoleon wasn’t fired or suspended.

“That did not involve a demotion or a suspension or him being fired. We had difference of opinion regarding a matter. (Napoleon) left the room,” Marsh said.

The two talked later Tuesday, and Napoleon apologized for being upset, Marsh said. He said he plans to send out memo Wednesday stressing that Napoleon remains in charge.

The Inkster police force has been decimated by layoffs in recent years, and there is internal strife in the department and concerns among residents about crime. The officers union has taken two votes of no confidence in the chief.

Over the summer, the city of fewer than 25,000 residents registered its 13th homicide of the year.

In a Sunday story in the Free Press, Napoleon, the brother of Wayne County sheriff and Detroit mayoral candidate Benny Napoleon, said some officers lack integrity and lie, particularly when it comes to what he describes as attempts to smear him.

“They aren’t qualified to be police officers, some of them. They shouldn’t be wearing the badge, some of them, and they want to tell me how to run the police department, but that’s not going to happen,” Napoleon said.

Marsh said Tuesday he plans to propose that a “third party” conduct an assessment of the police department, looking at staffing levels, procedures, policies and other areas.